Only Love

Only Love #1

by Garrett Leigh

The diagnosis of a chronic stomach condition leaves thirty-two-year-old Sergeant Jed Cooper with little choice but to call time on his Army career. Then on the dusty streets of Kirkuk, an ambush gone tragically wrong decimates his team, and he returns to the US with a shattered leg and the memory of his best friend dying in his arms.

Life in his sleepy hometown proves intolerable until he finds solace in a lakeside cabin with vivacious young carpenter, Max O’Dair. In the shadow of the epilepsy that periodically plagues Max, he and Jed form an unspoken bond. After a late night episode, Jed realizes how much Max means to him, and life has taught him not to waste time.

But the lines between contentment and complacency are blurred. Things left hidden resurface to tear through their world, and before they can repair the damage, death comes to call again. Faces, past and present, rally around them to weather the storm, but before long, they are left with only love.

Genres: M M Romance, Military Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Disability, Audiobook, Contemporary Romance

358 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 10, 2014

About the author

She/Her

Bonus Material available for all books on Garrett's Patreon account. Includes short stories from Misfits, Slide, Strays, What Remains, Dream, and much more. Sign up here: https://www.patreon.com/garrettleigh

Facebook Fan Group, Garrett's Den... https://www.facebook.com/groups/garre...

Garrett Leigh is an award-winning British romance author and artist. Her debut novel, Slide, won Best Bisexual Debut at the 2014 Rainbow Book Awards, and she is a 4 time LAMBDA finalist.

In 2017, she won the EPIC award in contemporary romance with her military novel, Between Ghosts, and the contemporary romance category in the Bisexual Book Awards with her novel What Remains.

Garrett is also an award winning cover designer, taking the silver medal at the Benjamin Franklin Book Awards in 2016. She designs for various publishing houses and independent authors at blackjazzdesign.com

Reviews

[Heather K (dentist in my spare time) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, fans of damaged military men, listen up! This book has your name all over it. My first book by Garrett Leigh and she delivered with excellent, charged writing and a hurt-comfort story that I could really get behind.

Phew, where do I even start!? This book gave my heart a pounding, dude! "Only Love" is a story about two men who are damaged both physically and emotionally. Both Jed and Max have pasts so full of trauma that pained me to read about them at times. However, I looove reading about damaged men so I ate up every morsel that Garrett Leigh threw my way. I don't know why but when guys are in pain and needing support... it just melts me.

I think one of the best parts of this book is the slow-burn romance. The relationship between Jed and Max took its time. I'm a HUGE proponent for a very slow burn so I loved the tension and that feeling of inevitability that the author brought to the story. The romance felt very authentic because of the care Garrett Leigh took in forming it from the get-go. I became very attached to Jed and Max as a couple.

I was also blown away by the author's writing skills. Each of the characters were beautifully crafted and completely formed. I had a sense for every one of them and I felt invested in them individually. The settings, the people... they sang to me.

Though I REALLY loved most of the story, a few aspects of the plot, well... I won't say "didn't like" but surprised me. For one, these two are a pretty stoic pair. Don't go in expecting big shows or declarations of love. In this book, actions speak louder than words. By that I mean, while these guys proved how much they cared about each other by their physical shows of devotion (for SURE), there isn't much "feelings talk" happening. I tend to be a "say it" kind of girl. I want the long talk about how much they can't liiiiive without each other and this book isn't really well suited for that.

The other thing (and I don't know if all of Garrett Leigh's books are like this) but the sex part of the book takes a backseat to the overall plot. What I mean is that the focus of this book is squarely on the physical and emotional dealings of Jed and Max and sex is more of an afterthought. Therefore, the heat level isn't quite as high as I pictured it to be. I mean, there is sex on page, but it is more of a general overview, if you get the picture. I'm not sure if having more sex on page would have added anything to the story but... um... my dirty-minded self would have been happy!

Lastly, there are a lot of flashbacks in this book, which I tend to not love. I didn't really mind it here, but I could have done without 1/2 of them, probably.

I know I sound like I'm pointing out a lot of negatives but this book was REALLY excellent. I don't want to post too much about the plot because it has a lot of twists and turns and I would hate to spoil an OUNCE of it for anyone, but the story really worked for me. Jeb and Max were an excellent couple and they fully came to life thanks to Garrett Leigh.

**Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

[Gigi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first book written by Garrett Leigh. She is a newer M/M Romance author, first publishing a freebie titled Gypsy in June 2013 (still available at ARe) and a steady stream of extremely popular M/M romances ever since. I hear about her on my GR feed constantly, but she tends to favor heavy angst in her stories, which is normally my preference, but this brutal 2014 Minnesota winter and other real life stressors have kicked my ass and kept me reading mostly warm and fuzzy M/M Romance tales to help keep the real-life blues away. I even started a new shelf called wait 4 better mood so some of these excellent angsty tales didn't slip by me and I could easily access them when my mood perked up. But Only Love? After reading the blurb, I knew this was going to be an exception in my angst-free-exile.

All of my favorite qualities in M/M Romance fiction are represented here. Military men, hurt/healing/comfort, PTSD, service dog(s), family reunions, interactions with children, deep, emotional bonds that transcend sex, good sex (but not a whole lot of it, unfortunately. But I didn't miss it. The book was THAT GOOD) and a HEA worthy of the image below. That picture perfectly wraps up how the ending made me feel. *sigh*

I can absolutely, 100% recommend this book to M/M Romance fans who are looking to read a journey of healing for two men who eventually find love with each other. It is worth every tear.

Garrett Leigh is quite obviously one of the new greats in M/M Romance fiction and if her hardcore angst can leave me feeling so happy and free, I need to get my ass in gear and catch up to my GoodReads friends who have been singing her praises for months now.

5 STARS, FAVORITES SHELF

This review is also posted at Gay Book Reviews

[Sheziss · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can't never forget the first time you witness a a epileptic seizure. There are lots of kinds but in my case it was the typical one we have always associated with the disorder. There are three phases medically speaking, but I experienced my own:



1. Stupefaction and confusion: "What the hell are you doing?".
2. Repugnance and repulsion: "That's an abomination!".
3. Sudden comprehension and empath: "Oh my God!".
4. Impotence and remorse: "What can I do? What can I do, please stop, please! Stop!".



I was 14 and I remember the wooden floor vibrating under my feet. We were a bunch of kids who thought it was a joke and laughed. But I sensed something was really wrong and I couldn't react. Then they began to understand it and began to scream and cry. Then we were pushed outside the building while the young woman was assisted. But little could be done to her right then. Apart from placing her on her side to avoid inhaling saliva or vomits. It was a "grand mal".



I've never seen another episode since then. But it really stuck.



Max usually has but of another kind of epilepsy seizures, much less malignant: absence seizures. Still, living with that kind of handicap must be something.

And Jed suffers gastroparesis, infectious origin.



What a pair.

You know I'm a Garrett Leigh fan cause I learnt she manages to write EXACTLY the books I want to read. When I first read Slide and Rare I thought she read my mind, because she pushed all the good buttons to make me utterly happy.

Because I absolutely love the slow falling in love. The glances, the expectation, the wonder... That can be even better than sex itself. I love the absence of words. I prefer to FEEL it. The actions that speak louder than words. I can live without the three words being said, because I live better on the emotions the author gets to give to the MC. And she knows how to do it. She really knows. It's just my cup of tea. I love breathtaking stories, I love to suffer with the main characters. I love feeling sad with them. I love feeling happy with them. I love falling in love with them. I love to have my heart broken. And I love to have it repaired.

She fulfills it all.

BUT

Here she doesn't. Yes, I actually liked the book. I liked the characters a lot. I liked the burdens they have to bear. I liked the angst. And I liked the plot. However, there was something missing. I'm a spoiled child, once I tasted what she is able to do, it's difficult to be content with less. She wrote a fine great book and if I hadn't read the awesomeness she can achieve, I would be more than happy with it, seriously. But she set high standards in her first novel and that's dangerous and, sometimes, counter-productive.

I don't regret reading this. I just can't help myself from acting like the devil's advocate. She makes believable the suffering of these two guys at their own disorders/diseases and also their despair and loneliness. One after war, the another one after a past he doesn't want to share, either. But I really didn't feel why they fell for each other. The feeling was supposedly there but I missed it, I needed more evidences, more actions, more thoughts, more feelings, and more interaction. I think that's the most important thing, the interaction. I don't say it in the most physical sense, but about that situation in which you can't stop thinking about the other person, and you don't need to be close to that person but you want to because you feel invincible. I sometimes had the sensation they were more times in their own heads than in each other's head. I don't say it's egocentrism but just negligence at portraying the new and exhilarating wonder of being in love.



Wanna hear Ian Curtis singing an epileptic seizure? Video here.

[Evie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean does anyone have the market cornered on queer traumatised military men locked down quite as sufficiently as Garrett Leigh does?

I feel like Garrett Leigh is becoming one of those authors who I know I can pick up their work and trust it will be well written, emotional and romantic. Did this break any barriers? I mean not really, but it was a perfectly enjoyable way to spend a day. I’m just not sure it’ll leave a particularly long lasting impression on me.

Considering it was first published in 2014 though (and what some of its contemporaries were doing in the queer literature space at this time) I am impressed by how progressive it is with its chronic illness and disability representation as well as authentic discussions about complicated relationship dynamics and queer coming out experiences.

Some of the story elements suffered a little bit due to the length of the book not really allowing them to be sufficiently explored, but Jed and Max were very sweet together and their hurt/comfort dynamic made for a lovely read.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, another overnight marathon read of a Garrett Leigh book for me. Happens every time one comes out and I regret nothing. This is an amazing story and I loved it, the characters, the hurt, the hope, I loved it all.

Only Love is about Max and Jed. They are two men who come together out of circumstances that neither chose, but try to make the best out of and unexpectedly find something in each other. Both men are physically damaged, one by war and one by genetics, but they have to live with their illnesses for the rest of their lives. It’s something that weighs on each of them and they both ask themselves, how do I take care of the man I’m falling in love with when I can barely take care of myself? Add to the mix they are very proud men who hate that they need help. I really appreciated the subtlety the author used to show the very thing that kept them at arms’ length from each other, their pride, was the thing they truly understood and respected in each other. The reticence that each man had about their insecurities was not overdone at all, so I could completely appreciate and empathize with how they felt without getting frustrated at their stubbornness.

A running theme for Jed throughout the book is his overwhelming feeling of apathy that both plagued and confused him. Honestly, there were so many moments in Jed’s life that were heartbreaking, but this was the worst for me. His army career is over due to his illness and he’s finishing out his last days of service.

“His crew had three weeks left of their marathon tour of Iraq, and it felt like fate. His military career was over, and he didn’t much care. The depth of his apathy surprised him. He’d given the Army more than a decade of his life, and with his days numbered, he’d expected to feel more. Instead he felt nothing . . .nothing but a flat sense of impending doom. War had sucked the life from him, but without it, what was he?”

For the first time in forever he is without direction and dealing with the chronic pain leaves him floating through his days. He doesn’t sleep and he can’t eat but he still carries the world on his shoulders and it isn’t until he meets Max that he sees a little light. Max recognizes the apathy in Jed and quietly begins caretaking him. Max really is a caregiver by nature who doesn’t trust his ability to take care of someone else. Jed really is the perfect person for Max to look after. Max knew that

“he (Jed) was perfectly capable of looking after himself. His worry, he supposed, was that Jed wouldn’t bother.”

Some of the sweetest moments are the little things that Max does. Jed is trained to notice everything and he sees and appreciates all the little things so much. For every little thing that Max does, Jed does things for Max in kind and it’s a quiet courtship that I enjoyed reading immensely.

The secondary characters are very strong and there isn’t one who doesn’t add to getting to know Max and Jed. Jed’s army team is met in flashbacks and in one case, the most heart wrenching letter ever written. Towards the end we get introduced to the remaining members and throughout, there was no doubt of the connection these men shared. The flashbacks were heartbreaking and hard to read, but they explained so much about Jed, his relationship with Glenn and Paul especially. Paul, the closest person to Jed in his entire life, who we only know through flashbacks and that damn letter is central to who Jed is and while their relationship was obviously complex and too undefined to explain, they kept each other sane through the insanity of their missions.

Max’s family is great, as is Carla, Dan and their whole clan. The most important secondary character has to be Flo, Max’s helper dog. I fell in love with Flo as fast as she fell for Jed. Now Nick, Jed’s brother, I still want to punch, that never changed.

At one point Max summed up Jed perfectly with “He said exactly what he thought or nothing at all”. It’s so simple but really profound and really summed up what always impresses me about Garrett’s writing. In Only Love, Jed and Max, well Jed especially, are very private and quiet people. Max needs the calm and quiet to keep his brain in line and Jed needs it to keep his demons at bay. The quiet cabin at the lake is the perfect place for them and considering how little they say, it’s amazing how much I felt like I knew them. All their deeds had purpose and I was shown how they felt throughout, I didn’t have to be told every change in mood. I felt that I could read them as well as if I was in the same room with them.

I’ve read a couple other reviews and I know there have been a few comments from other readers about the amount of sex in this one. I think just because, if you’ve read Garrett’s other works, you know that sex was how those characters connected and communicated. This was different though and I can completely respect that difference because it made sense. Anything else I would have questioned. It wasn’t like Max and Jed didn’t have sex and didn’t connect, because believe me, they did, and how. But, Jed is suffering from a chronic illness, for them to fuck like bunnies would not have made sense to me. What did make sense was how much Jed loved to kiss Max and those moments were so very special. Considering how he had lived and loved up until that point, it was no wonder simple kissing could be so incredibly intimate.
I have to tell you about one of my favorite things in the book, it was very subtle and I absolutely loved it. There were two separate moments where one man filed away something about the other that they discovered. Things they wanted to remember because making the other happy was becoming more and more important. So, Max has a “Jed” part of his brain and Jed has a “Max” part of his brain.

When you read Only Love, plan on reading Awake and Alive immediately after. Only Love is about the meat and potatoes while Awake and Alive is dessert and it cannot be missed. The few little things I thought were missing in Only Love were provided in Awake and Alive, it really does complete Max and Jed’s story.

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

☆ 4.5 AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL STARS ☆...

Garrett Leigh is an author that is continuously evolving… each book she releases brings something different, but what doesn’t change is the delivery… the excellence of the writing that continues to astound me. She is a truly gifted and talented author, that takes my emotions to different places and gives me a whole new perspective as a reader.



Garrett Leigh has the ability to totally blow me away with her simplicity… don’t get me wrong, the lives of these characters have been far from simple, in fact their past has been harrowing, with their daily existence a struggle in itself. She titled this book Only Love and quite frankly, in my opinion, Garrett Leigh couldn’t have picked a more apt title. The overwhelming theme of this book is LOVE… a beautifully understated and subtle approach to a love that is powerful and compelling. A love that comes from friendship, not just with our two MC’s Jed and Max but also those people that have touched their lives and are worthy of that love… it’s the pure unselfishness of that emotion, to give and receive. But for Jed and Max, the complex lives of these two broken men, their secrets and lies, pain and hurt, all derived from their traumatic pasts, makes it difficult for them to trust and accept that love in it’s purest form.

Jed, pulled on all my heart strings, there is such sadness that surrounds him, a man of very few words and even less emotion, stoically he has always been the strong and capable leader, he’s a soldier and protects those he loves, for Jed weakness is failure and failure is weakness. So when he is returns home after having been thrown out fourteen years earlier by a total bastard of a bigoted father, having experienced the atrocities of war, losing his best friend and many of his brothers in arms who were like his family, in need of rehabilitation due to the leg injuries he sustained in an attack in Iraq and battling a chronic incurable illness …. he is lost and adrift in a world he no longer recognises.

War had sucked the life from him, but without it, what was he?

You get the impression Jed is functioning on auto pilot, disengaged and on the knifes edge of falling apart if he stops to analyse his emotions too closely. He seems to live in denial, afraid of his own vulnerabilities… as if he ignores it, it will all simply disappear.

Violence became fluid, like water or blood, a constant motion he couldn’t escape. Doors closed, faces vanished. Buildings blew up.

Max… there is so much warmth about him, he just lights up the page. He is sweet and caring, but strong, managing his own disability, epilepsy, with the help of Flo… OMG, that dog has an intuition all of its own, you can’t help but fall for Flo. Max is aware of his own limitations and living in a cabin in the mountains alone, preferring his own company and the solitary peace and quite… Flo is his lifeline to normalcy. Although on the surface Max seems content and settled with his life, you get this underlying nagging feeling there is more to both his and his sister Kim’s history than either of them are letting on.

I mentioned earlier that this book is not just about Jed and Max but also of the people that touch their lives… their extended family and friends. When Jed is discharged from hospital he moves in with his estranged brother… a complete and utter arsehole!!! Luckily his wife Kim, Max’s sister, and the two adorable nieces, Belle and Tess, make up for it tenfold and it’s not long before Jed is renting a room in Max’s cabin. We see Jed re-establish relationships with his best friend Dan Valesco, and his family, which had been more a family to Jed in his youth than his own father!  I loved this crazy, pushy, quirky bunch… they just radiate love, warmth and compassion and you just can’t help but be drawn in by them. Tentative at first, we begin to see Jed open up more, but still not fully trust and let go.



Both Max and Jed are fiercely independent, a product of their pasts. Living together, they become more comfortable and relaxed… and this is where the relationship and their love is subtle because it actually sneaks up on you… it’s a slow burn with each of them learning to receive rather than just give. Jed is a protector, letting someone care for him would be a weakness… but that is what Max does, not in your face fussing but just quietly taking care of Jed without him realising and likewise Max had always taken care of himself not needing protection yet his soul yearns for Jed’s strength and the two slip into their friendship which develops into a love, and their fierce independence becomes a fierce need for each other, so profound it just fills you with the warm and fuzzies,

…the feel of Max’s lips on him was the only thing that felt right.

Everything was tidied up all nice and neat in the epilogue… friends and family, the brothers in arms that turned up and showed their true colours when Jed needed them most, pasts put to rest, the hope for a future… The only thing I didn’t feel there was a resolution to was Nick, I felt I missed something there, does he finally redeem himself as a human being? husband? father? brother?!? I didn’t like him, so maybe it’s not such a bad thing… I think I would have liked to see Kim kick his sorry, self absorbed, pitying arse into touch!

I felt this book had a completely different feel compared to Garrett Leigh other works, she totally stripped back on all the angst and drama, even the romance and sex to a certain extent and showed another side to her versatility as a writer and totally focused on forming a relationship, a bond between two men, the foundations and slow growth of which was formed on friendship, trust and just allowing yourself to be vulnerable to love.

The kiss was light and sweet, like they were lying in the sun, touched by it’s warmth without a care in the world.

I can’t recommend Only Love or Garrett Leigh enough… which includes any of the other books she has released in the last few months since she has burst on the m/m romance scene. I just love her and her writing!

[Simone - on indefinite hiatus - · Rating 4 out of 5]

***4.5 Stars***

"There's no past tense when you lose someone, Jed. You just keep on loving them."

Gosh! I'm probably one of the latest party guests ever!!! This was my first book by Garrett Leigh, but so not my last...

Two broken men  - at body and soul - who have to overcome their past by dealing with loss and grief, the aftermath and horrors of war (well, at least one of them) while at the same time suffering from severe health issues??? That virtually screamed "hurt/comfort", so add some military background to the mix and of course I was a goner.

It's probably a good thing that I don't write books, I guess I would torture my heroes to death... Yeah, I know, I know, it sounds like a deeply ingrained mean streak, but I think -umm, I hope - it's just the fact that I love to suffer with them until they get their well-deserved HEA. What Max and Jed in particular had to go through was sometimes hard to take and threatened to shred my heart into tiny pieces, but especially a letter from a 'ghost' made my heart bleed and my face leak. I had to stop reading at lunch break because it's really hard to explain to your boss why you are suddenly a sobbing mess.

A few things remained unresolved for me, though, e.g., I guess that Max will tell Jed at some point that he remembers the death of his parents in detail, but I would have loved to read this on page and the editing threw me off at times. There was no distinct break when a scene changed, no explicit paragraph, just a different font for the first two words, but I just missed it sometimes and got a bit confused. 

The story is great, though, so I cannot recommend it high enough! 

[Trisha Harrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are so many things I want to say about this book, but I can't. I really can't. I don't have the ability to articulate how much I loved this book. But I sure as hell will try.

So let's start off with the characters, Jed and Max. For a little while I was unsure whether these two would work as a couple. I don't really know why, but that was just how I felt for a short time. That changed very quickly and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved these boys. They both had issues and things in their pasts that they struggled with. Jed's was more recent and it was also still happening, so I really felt for him throughout a large percentage of this book. As a couple, I really thought they worked well and even though they had their secrets, it didn't take from anything. Also, people have mentioned the lack of 'I love you's'. Normally that would bug me, but a couple of people have already said it, they showed they were in love. When things really went to hell, I just knew that the love was there, even when it wasn't said.

This book had a lot going on beside the romance. Between the family problems and the combination of major and less major health issues, there was a lot going on in this book. It was probably one of the best angsty books I have read in a long time. Now, I'm not saying I don't enjoy angst, but I don't enjoy certain types, but I was really impressed with it here. And part of that was probably because I loved these characters and I cared and I wanted a happy ending for them. And when things went to hell, I was reading it and really worried that things would really not end in a nice and happy way. I was so close to screaming from frustration because I wanted things to start going right! Goddamn it, I really thought things couldn't get worse. But they did.

I also want to point out that this is an emotional book. There were times I could imagine people shedding tears and possibly bawling because there were a lot of feelings here. Especially when it came to Paul and Jed. I wasn't sure about that for a while. It just made me pause for a moment and I thought about it. I mean I really thought about it. It wasn't just something thrown in there. I really did feel the feelings between him and Jed and it wasn't an issue for me. Actually, I think it just added to the story. Dead or not. Paul was an important person in Jed's life and his letter was perfect. And then there was Max and how he stood by Jed during that really dark and scary time. I so wanted to climb into the book and hug him and just tell him that everything was going to be okay. But I wasn't sure if it was going to be okay or not.

Okay, so I think I've probably gone on long enough and I hope I was able to do a semi-okay job with this review. If not, then there are plenty of wonderful reviews out there for this book and I would encourage you to go check those out. But in all honesty, I really enjoyed this book. It might have been the cover that first attracted me to this book because I must admit I love the cover too, which is always a bonus. But the cover did not influence my feelings for this book overall. Definitely a book I will read again one day.

[Lenore · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the beginning and the last ten percent or so, but the rest just fell down.

I liked the characters all right individually, but I didn't feel any actual chemistry between them. They were supposed to have it, but even though I could see them becoming good friends, mostly because of the routine they created together (which took up most of the story, and bored me a bit too much, to be honest) and their health predicaments, I didn't see the exploding passion between them. It just wasn't there. It would have been more convincing had they forged a close companionship and become intimate as the next natural step in the progression of their relationship.

I only kept reading past the 50% mark out of sheer bloody-minded stubbornness, and I could only shake my head at the 'misunderstanding' and the tacked-on 'omg you almost died' bits in the last 30% or so. It felt forced and it just didn't all come together for me.

I've heard great things about Garrett Leigh, so I'll pick up more of her books in the future, but let's just say I'm not about to lash out and buy her entire backlist.

[Elsa Bravante · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pues si tuviera que resumir lo que me ha parecido el libro sería... Meh. No está mal, pero no ha sido nada especial.
Jed vuelve de la guerra a su ciudad natal con muchas heridas físicas y emocionales, las circunstancias hacen que comparta casa con Max, que aunque no ha estado en el ejército tiene sus heridas propias. Así se fragua una amistad que desemboca en amor, y es ese paso de la amistad al amor el que ha quedado muy difuso para mi, aunque si los miras individualmente son buenos personajes, como pareja no tienen ninguna química, sus escenas juntas hablan más de amistad que de amor. No está mal escrito, pero su relación no me ha resultado creíble. Por otro lado, ha habido momentos en que la historia me ha resultado pesada y aburrida, le ha faltado un punto de emoción, y no me refiero a sexo o acción.
Bien para pasar un rato, no si buscas algo abosorbente que ponga tu mundo patas arriba durante un rato.

[AliciaJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yep, it was amazing. My brain is still too chaotic to put into words how deeply this book moved me, but suffice to say, I will read it again and again. And each time, I expect I will be as emotionally wrung out and deeply satisfied as I was the first time.

[Heller · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75

I wanted to like this more than I did, there were all the makings of a read that I would love. Great characters and unique storyline but I just couldn't connect with Jed. I liked him and I felt for what he was going through but never to the point where I was emotionally invested in his journey. The story just jumped around too much for me to really settle in and lose myself in it and while I did love Max this ended up being a read that I put down several times with no rush to pick back up again.

[Katrina Passick Lumsden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Garrett Leigh once asked on her Facebook page if her fans would still buy her books if she self-published. I told her I'd buy her stories if she wrote them on toilet paper and dispensed them a square at a time. And stories like this are why I'd be willing to do that. Leigh's tales have just enough angst, romance, and conflict to keep me entertained and invested without being frustrated, and her guys make my heart feel funny.

[Johnny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't quite feel the chemistry between Jed and Max. Unlike Ash and Pete's from Slide. I mean it's there but it's not quite up there. I am not sure if it was just me, I had a long day. :) There was also more telling than showing which I tend not to enjoy very much.

Aside from that, Garret Leigh is a great writer! I liked the slow burn romance here and it suited the cabin by the lake backdrop of the story. I also appreciate that there were not a lot of sex scenes here and the story focused more on the healing part.

There was a quote here that affected me very much and by affected I mean I cried. :) When Max said, "There is no past tense when you lose someone. You just keep on loving them." My eyes just went right to my partner who was sleeping right beside me and thought, what would I do if lose this guy and I just lost it. So thank you Garrett for stirring those emotions from me. :)

A very solid read!

[patrícia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jed Cooper’s life falls apart after an ambush in Iraq leaves him physically scarred and emotionally broken — a chronic stomach condition, a ruined leg, and PTSD that isolates him from everyone he loves. Hoping for peace, he retreats to a quiet lakeside cabin, where he meets Max O’Dair, a gentle carpenter with epilepsy and a service dog who understands what it means to live with pain.

Their connection begins in silence — soft, steady, cautious — built on mutual understanding and those quiet, domestic moments that feel like safety. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, it grows into something far stronger: a love that heals in all the messy, imperfect ways. This is a story about trauma, resilience, and learning to let yourself be loved when you’ve forgotten how.

It’s delicate and intimate, but also shattering and painfully raw. **Emotional, reflective, soft-angsty, quietly hopeful** — this book carries that signature Garrett Leigh balance of darkness and light. I’m addicted to her writing; even at its lowest emotional points, there’s always a thread of hope running through.

The slow burn is perfect. The focus is emotional healing, and when intimacy finally arrives, it’s tender, grounding, deeply connected — never rushed, never just for steam, always part of the healing.

The twist followed by Jed’s time in the hospital was nerve-wracking. I was stressed, genuinely anxious, and desperate for it to be over so they could return to their little cabin sanctuary and be happy again. The found family is astonishing — warm, chaotic, supportive — and yes, I even liked Nick a little.

And in summary, this book is exactly this 🥹🥰🫠 — the tone, the vibes, the heartbeat. It’s a big quote, but it captures the soul of the story, so I had to share it:

“So I guess I’ll see you….”

“Soon, dude. Soon. Take care of your people, and let them take care of you.”

Glenn hung up before Jed could respond. He stared at the phone for a moment, caught between the life he’d left behind and the one awaiting him until the sound of Max’s laughter called to him like a siren.

He followed the sound outside to the yard. The sight before him made him smile. At the water’s edge, Dan stood with Tess on his shoulders. Raffi was beside him, teaching Belle to walk on her hands. Carla and Luke sat to one side with Saja and Carla’s elderly lab at their feet. All around them, Flo and Desta played chase, tearing in and out of the water, and right at the end of the jetty stood Max, shirtless, his shorts soaked.

Jed took a moment to drink in the scene. It often amazed him that the many facets of his life fit so well together. For the longest time, he’d thought such a thing impossible.

Desta spied him lurking and barked, giving away his presence. The spaniel bounded away from Flo and across the yard, preparing to hit him with a flying leap of wet dog. Jed stopped him with a stern word. Desta skidded to a stop and whined, but for once did as he was told. Tess wasn’t quite so patient. Somehow, Jed had missed her ditching Dan and darting across the yard.

She jumped up into his arms as Max laughed again.

Jed met his gaze and stared, feeling another fissure in his battered heart heal. He wondered if it would always be this way. For him, Max was the early morning sun, a cool springtime breeze, and a blanket of fresh white snow. His warm eyes were a guiding light in the dark, and the love they held was the only thing Jed would ever need.”

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💞 Tropes & Tags

* Hurt/comfort
* Veteran / PTSD / war trauma
* Disability & chronic illness rep
* Grumpy x gentle pairing
* Mutual healing / broken meets broken
* Small-town / cabin retreat setting
* Slow burn
* Found family
* Service dog
* Emotional intimacy before physical intimacy
* Secret from the past
* Quiet, domestic tenderness

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⚠️ Trigger / Content Warnings

* PTSD and war trauma (flashbacks, panic attacks)
* Chronic pain and physical disability
* Epilepsy (on-page seizures)
* Chronic illness (digestive condition)
* Survivor’s guilt and grief
* Emotional isolation and depression
* Family tension / mild rejection
* Mentions of violence and past injury

[The Bursting Bookshelf of a Wallflower · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intense hurt/comfort story with intriguing characters

Due to a chronic stomach condition, Jed is forced to leave his military career behind and the moment he get back to the States, he has to face a past that wasn't all that pleasant. He quickly realizes that he can't live with his brother Nick - they never really liked each other. In lack of a better opportunity, Jed moves to a small cabin close to his old hometown, where he lives together with Max, the brother of his brother's wife.

Max and Jed are both damaged in their own way - physically due to chronic illness and emotionaly due to heartbreaking events in their past. I loved the way the author offert glimpses of their past without revealing everything at once. It kept me interested in the story and I kept reading just to find out their secrets.

And I loved the slow burn of their relationship. They don't fall in love at first sight; they both need their time to let somebody new into their lives. The interaction between them was sometimes a bit strange. The author wrote an intense scene and left off immediatly after it; sometimes the next chapter was set several days or even weeks in the future. They don't talk all that much to each other; a lot of their relationship gets clear only by actions and that what made this story somewhat special.

Only Love is a great read for hurt/comfort fans out there. And for me a story focussing on a military man is nearly always a hit.

4 stars!

[Kenny Danewitz raveh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Giving it some thoughts it is more like a 3 stars. I still think It was beautiful and very well written but after a few days of thinking about it I think something was missing.
Jed was a very good, sweet, sad and very closed man and that didn't change and nearly got himself flat out dead. he had zero communication skills and he didn't let Max in unless Max just backed him into a corner.
The last 30% left me kind of traumatized (I wasn't even sure at some point he was going to make it) and than boom!!! a HEA.
I feel kind of bad since the first 70% were so good but it just didn't feel well balanced for me.

Original review:
It was beautiful and very well written. I don’t go for Friends to lovers and clearly both were very into each other very fast but both characters were beautiful and I found myself sobbing a few times which is rare for me.
The only issue I had up to 70% of the book was how “fine” Jade was and how stubborn he was with sharing about his condition.
The reason it is only 4 stars for me is that the Hospital scene was way too long with zero purpose.
A great read though.

[Cadiva · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Garrett Leigh. Not only is it Garrett Leigh, but it's her with the military pen firmly in hand and the romance she gives us is stunning.

There is so much to love about this, from honest and warm-hearted Max to Jed, determined to live under his own conditions, and through to the bunch of superb secondary characters who pepper the story.

I'm not going to recap the plot, I will say though, that the attention to detail here is as great as it usually is and when Jed went through all his traumas, I felt them vicariously.

This is the revised edition with a new cover and I don't believe there are any changes from the original.

If you like damaged men, both physically and mentally, this is your book. There is so much to love about it. I wanted to wrap Max in bubble wrap and I was so glad when Jed started taking care of him and let him look after him in return.

#ARC kindly received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yep, I'm a sucker for a damaged military man. Jed has to be one of my favourites.

I have a couple of criticisms (though, not enough for me not to give it 5 stars).
#1 The overuse of the word belligerence. Pet peeve is when one particular word appears over and over again to describe multiple different characters. If I reread this, I'm definitely counting how many times the word appears.
#2 This not a classic love story. I actually don't even think Jed said I love you to Max (he said it to others). Who knows? He very well may have and I just totally missed it, I was probably to hung up on the medical drama like I'm watching an episode of Greys Anatomy. I think the connection between Jed and Max was very real, but there was something missing to make this a favourite couple for me.

Anyway, I usually would've 4 starred this with my criticism, but considering I sat all day at work thinking about it and wanting to come home and read it, meant I was hooked. Also, the author did a fantastic job of her descriptions of living with epilepsy and the symptoms of gastroparesis. You could tell she really did her research before sitting down to write this story. So cheering for the author for that!

***trigger warnings: war, violent deaths, hospital stays, mention of past child physical abuse, PTSD,

[Ariana (mostly offline) · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4,5 stars*

Wow - that was wonderfully angsty and pretty painful, but oh so worth it! Excellent tale by one of the best story-tellers around.

[Natasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was good.

The beginning, especially, was terrific.

Had a lot of stuff going on, not all of which I felt was completely resolved. I still wasn't completely sure what the whole situation with Nick was. He was an ass, but Kim liked him because he helped her out years ago, but everyone still hated him. And then Nick was nice to Jed sometimes, but sporadically, and I didn't really find out why Nick hated his brother so much. Was it just the gay thing?

The sex scenes were very brief and tasteful, but I might've liked a bit more touching.



I appreciate Leigh's writing style, and would look for another book of hers in the future. Maybe a slightly less angsty one.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this early book by Garret Leigh. It has so many of the things I love in it - hurt/comfort, military men, chronic illness, service dogs, found family, a little bit of mystery. The writing style is excellent, I never feel weighed down by too many words or lengthy descriptions in a Garret Leigh book. They are so easy to read and always leave me on tenterhooks regardless of many times I have read them before. The dialogue is always excellent, without a lot of heavy introspection to slog through. This book deals with some heavy themes but is gripping throughout and leads beautifully into Circle with Jed and Max featuring heavily there which is such a delight.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

*** 4.25 Stars ***

This is a story with strong characters living complex lives. There's a lot of heart, but little steam.

[Fani *loves angst* · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay. So I'm in the minority here since almost all of my GR friends seem to have loved this. However, the focus of the story was on the healing part rather than the romance and that's not my cuppa. What's worse, I never felt any chemistry between the heroes and their complete lack of communication or trust certainly didn't do nothing to convince me that they were meant to be together. In fact, they both learn all important things about each other from outsiders, and not because they managed to make an in-depth discussion between the two of them. Finally, the last 30% of the book was way too slow for me and too focused on the illness part; once again the romance took the back seat.

I don't think this author's style is for me, but since I already have Slide on my TBR, I might as well read it...

[Elci · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5*

Scene: Elci reading in bed, husband sound asleep. Very quiet house. She's trying not to make too much noise as she cries.


Seriously, just a fab read. Max and Jed made my soul happy. Plus puppies.

[♣ Irish Smurfétté ♣ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Le Full Review at PBA

It didn’t take long. I got lost. The kind of lost where, when you stretch your legs and wince, you realize you’ve been curled up in a tight ball for way too long, reading. That was me. The kind of lost when your brain goes rogue and takes it upon itself to alert you that the sun has now abandoned you, the shadows having taken over. That was me. Do you want that? Then read this book. Meet Jed. Watch his eyebrow rise when he meets Max, and Flo. Then prepare yourself to get lost with them.

I’m going to be (not so, not really) bold and say the writing here is superb. Descriptions are piercing, meaningful, and cut right to the quick with unique personal detail that, by simply being human, get my cells buzzing with recognition and therefore emotion. The most striking are of Jed and his struggle to deal with being home, dealing with family, friends, going shopping, sharing meals and his health. This writing has a confident strength about it. Not boastful or cocky, but a knowing strength. It’s beautifully exposed in a story like this.

The supporting characters feel like people I know. Jed’s friend Dan is unwavering in that friendship. Unwavering. Max’s sister Kim is stern in her caring about Max, Jed, everyone actually. Jed’s brother Nick doesn’t get a lot of page time but the effects of how he’s handling his life touch everyone else’s. And Paul. “Jed’s Paul” is how I want to describe him. And Paul’s wife. Talk about endless emotional reverberations. Nick and Kim’s daughters are complete beings, both expressing their own anxieties and reflect those of all of the adults around them. Wonderfully done.

We know what we feel, and when we find someone that allows us to acknowledge the need for understanding, or even just receiving, of those feelings, well… it’s irresistible. It’s like a genetic vestige buried deep, thanks to our ancestors, and we can’t help but let it happen. We get glimpses of this for Jed by way of Paul and definitely by way of Max. And it’s reciprocal. They both need and want it. A blazing recognition of someone who is in a similarly difficult place.

I like the dichotomous aspect of Max’s personality. He’s weary, knows too much about how isolating this world can be. And yet, he’s patient and hopeful, and does allow himself a limited number of conduits through which to share his heart, especially with his nieces. And Flo, of course.

Jed, needless to say, has this same knowledge but due to a very different path. Despite himself, he has a similarly hopeful heart. I mean, shit, how else could he still be here? Still breathing? Still trying to survive and maybe even have a life worth living if he didn’t have some hope, even if it’s often times overwhelmed by the pain.

At some points, for me, this was almost too much to take. It made me feel like I was almost separated from the act of reading and went deep inside myself… or floated so far away, I was no longer connected. But I was. Self-preservation. Self-protection. It’s difficult, but when this happens because of someone’s words they put on the page, I’m blown away. This was a quiet experience for me. It was like my brain slowed down, pushing me through a fog in slow motion. I couldn’t have been dragged away from this even in my sleep. It feels very difficult to explain but I think you’re probably understanding what I’m trying say.

There is a line towards the end of this book that I read six or seven times before I could move on, two sentences that say it all about Jed and Max. When fifteen words can express what an entire story has taken its time, its heart, to tell us… it’s like I finally got to let go of the breath I was holding the whole time. Acknowledgement, validation of what I’ve just gone through. It was worth it. Completely.

I highly recommend this book.

When you’re done, go ahead and get the little freebie, Awake and Alive. Just do it. ;)

Dreamspinner provided an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Giulio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating 3.5

Former soldier suffering from PTSD, a chronic stomach condition and a shattered leg meets guy suffering from epilepsy who lives in a secluded cabin near a lake with his Seizure Alert Dog. My AngstOmeter has hit very high levels.
Overall a nice read, with great side characters (the dogs above all) and a slow burning love story.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intense read with flashbacks to really intense situation, a wounded, stoic soldier, and a quiet, strong romance - Garrett Leigh pulled out all the stops for this one. Full review on Booklikes and my blog.

[Irina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audible

A bittersweet story about two handicapped men. Quite enjoyable apart from the overly dramatic last third of the book.

***3.4 stars***

[Trio · Rating 4 out of 5]

what a beautiful story - perfect Garrett Leigh.